BARBARA ANN ROSS

It is with great sadness we announce the passing of our mother, Barbara Ann Ross, on Sunday, June 22, 2014 at La Verendrye Hospital in Fort Frances, Ont.
Mom was born Dec. 4, 1946 in Fort Frances to Don and Odell Ross (Gill).
Barbara will be lovingly remembered by her life partner, Leonard Grupp; children, Heide (Rodger) and Terry (Carla); and grandsons, Gus and Gill.
Barbara also is survived by her siblings, Gill (Nancy), Nancy (Jim) Piaskoski, and Doug Ross; nieces and nephews, Janna (Ryan) Smith, Ross (Kaitlin) Piaskoski, Dan (Laura), Paul (Jenny), Kathryn (Aleksei) Myroniuk, and Christina; and great-nieces, Mila and Coby.
She will be greatly missed by all of her large extended Ross and Gill families, and many good friends.
Mom had a passion for reading and travelling, and loved to express her creativity in her quilting. Her grandsons were the joy of her life and she loved to plan new creative projects for them, sewing, building, and baking together.
Friends and family alike fondly remember her as fun, friendly, and outgoing. Mom “never met a stranger” and made friends everywhere she went.
Barbara graduated from the McKellar General Hospital School of Nursing in 1967 and promptly enlisted as an officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force, where she ranked lieutenant, based in Trenton, Ont. and Germany.
After leaving the air force, she attended Carleton University in Ottawa, graduating with a B.A. in English Literature, and returned to Fort Frances in 1978.
In Fort Frances, Barbara worked as an RN at La Verendrye General Hospital, Rainycrest Long-Term Care, Medical Services, and the mill, retiring as the mill’s Occupational Health and Safety rep at the end of 2001.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, June 26, 2014 at 11 a.m. at Green Funeral Home in Fort Frances, with Fr. Wayne McIntosh officiating.
In memoriam donations may be made to Riverside Foundation for Health Care, 110 Victoria Av., Fort Frances, Ont., P9A 2B7.
Online condolences may be offered at www.greenfuneralhomefortfrances.com